Step 9: Enjoy your refreshed cutting surface!

Plastic (polyethylene) cutting boards tend to get worn with use, eventually leading to an unsightly (and often unsanitary) surface. Between cut marks, foods, and cleaners can leave a plastic board looking pretty ragged.

But not all is lost - a quick attack with some sandpaper can refresh that cutting board, making it as good as new and saving the time and money of replacing them! This tried and true food service industry trick can help clean up even the worst of boards and prolong the life of your boards and boost the cleanliness of your kitchen.

For the sander, I'm using a Dremel contour sander. Any sander will do the job, and one with more horsepower will do the job faster. A belt sander or orbital sander would work nicely. I just didn't happen to have one handy at the moment.

<p>&hellip;actually not a good idea to send large amounts of tiny plastic particles through the sewer. I mean, polyamid, polyethylen, or whatever it is &ndash; we all know where all that stuff &quot;ends up&quot;.</p><p>(exactely: it just doesen't. it moves and it lasts. that's the thing with plastic.)</p>

<p>Good point</p>

<p>Doesn't strike me as worth it, if I compare cost of materials to price of new cutting board. Also, the newly exposed surface isn't sealed or treated to make it smooth enough to be resistant to new food stains. Interesting, though, and answered the questions I had.</p>

<p>I have had very good luck scraping the board with an ugly old knife I hate.</p>

<p>For larger boards use a belt sander in the same way. Covers a lot more territory and very aggressive against the cut marks. But when in need of a new board check us out at TheCuttingBoardFactory.com</p>

just buy wood cutting board...

This is a great idea. I can see how self-healing plastic would gum up a sander, though. Maybe a cabinet scraper would make things easier?

Awesome, just last week I was wondering how I could do this! Now just to convince dad to lend me his sander... Is there any problem with just using sandpaper? (other than being very slow?)

I have a kitchen board which have rough surface, now sanding will make the rough surface smoother and i dont want that !

What a great way to keep plastic out of the landfill! My favorite cutting board is no longer scheduled for that big kitchen in the sky....